Sparland board candidate ruled ineligible

Just when the village of Sparland appeared to have candidates lined up for all spots in local government for the first time in a year, the village limits line intervened.

Gary L. Smith

Just when the village of Sparland appeared to have candidates lined up for all spots in local government for the first time in a year, the village limits line intervened.

An area man who had come forward and offered to serve in the one remaining open Village Board seat, Mike Thomas, was nominated to do so at a municipal caucus Monday night.

But when paperwork was being finalized later, it turned out that his residence is outside the village limits, so there remains an opening, Acting Mayor Debbie Prather said at a board meeting Thursday.

"We are needing one other trustee," she said.

That has been a frequent refrain in this small Marshall County community since several resignations last December. That followed controversy over a local strip club and withering attacks by a local resident who maintained that the officials were not handling their duties properly.

Many positions have turned over multiple times since then. Prather is the third person to hold the dual positions of village trustee and acting mayor.

For the April election, Prather was nominated for the mayor's seat, which will leave a trustee position open. Also nominated for continuing service were five trustees who all were appointed during the past year.

Appointed Village Clerk Tammy Deffenbaugh declined a full term because of other commitments. That creates another opening for which applications would be welcome, Prather said.

"If you know anybody who's interested, let us know," she told people at the meeting.

Linda Medearis, a former trustee and mayor, one of the group that resigned last December, had chaired the caucus and said she would help to find new candidates. But she thinks the governing duties should be turned over to others.